A protest against the American military incursion this weekend into Venezuela drew over 30 people to a sidewalk in front of the Bragg Boulevard Flea Market in Fayetteville on Sunday.
Media reports say soldiers in the elite special operations Army unit known as Delta Force captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Delta Force is based at Fort Bragg, which is less than 3 miles from where the protesters held up signs, chanted slogans, and waved to passing vehicles on one of Fayetteville’s busiest streets. Some drivers honked their horns in support.
A news release says the event was organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Code PINK, Democratic Socialists of America, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition, and the 50501 organization.
Why are these people upset about President Donald Trump’s action in Venezuela?
“I’m 20 years retired Army, and it’s totally illegal,” said Cindy Corey of Fayetteville. The president and the military leadership took the actions without authorization from Congress, Corey said. “It was not put before a vote in the House or the Senate. It is illegal, and they need to be prosecuted.”
Another Army veteran, Randy VanSlyke of Hope Mills, had similar thoughts.
“There is no reason for us to be into that country, and Congress is not doing their job,” he said. “Congress is supposed to be the ones that say, ‘Yes, you can go in.’ But they’re letting Trump do whatever he wants to do without any consequences.”
VanSlyke carried a sign that said, “No more blood for oil. No war on Venezuela. No more wars based on lies.”
Protest organizer Angela Freckleton said she is worried the Venezuelan action will lead to a drawn-out military occupation and the deaths of working-class Americans, such as those in Fayetteville at Fort Bragg, for the financial benefit of military contracting companies like Lockheed Martin.
Trump has accused Venezuela’s government of fostering the trade of illegal drugs into the United States. Recently, he directed American forces to seize oil tankers reported to be serving Venezuela. And he had the military destroy boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs and kill their crews.
While the Trump administration has said the boats were carrying illegal fentanyl, an indictment against Maduro accuses him of smuggling cocaine and makes no mention of fentanyl.
At a news conference on Saturday, the president said the United States is also interested in Venezuela’s oil reserves, and that American oil companies will invest there, and that Venezuela had stolen American oil and American oil assets.
The Fayetteville protest drew one counterprotester, Stacy Kennedy of Fayetteville. She said she spotted the protest while driving past and decided to stop, and that she has a son in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
While Kennedy said she disagrees with Trump on some things, she said in this instance, he is trying to stop the drug problem that kills Americans.
“I’m tired of the drugs in my country. I’m tired of the drugs in Fayetteville,” she told CityView. Then she called out to the protesters: “You don’t see these people that are homeless on drugs!”
The protest drew former Fayetteville City Council Member Mario “Be” Benavente, who is now running for the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. He described the attack as an act of war.
“I’ve got family that is currently serving, and I’m not interested in them going to fight a war for oil,” Benavente said.
Since Trump took office again last year, the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition and other activists have held several protests against Trump and his policies.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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